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He wore the cute fuzzy velvet fur-trimmed hat that I haven't ever seen worn by a pope in recent memory. At first I thought he was wearing a santa hat to be funny (and I thought, "No way!!!")

It must have kept his noggin nice and toasty! : And keeping some of those nifty traditions in the fold.

[img]http://img.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/0512/21/pope375.jpg[/img]

[quote]ROME (Reuters) - He was not riding on a one-horse open sleigh, but when Pope Benedict arrived on the popemobile for his weekly audience in St Peter's Square, on-lookers could have been forgiven for thinking Santa Claus was in town.

To keep warm against the bitter cold, the Pontiff wore a red velvet cap, trimmed with white fur which, together with his scarlet cape, gave him the look of Father Christmas.

The traditional hat, known as a camauro, was commonly worn by pope in the mediaeval period to keep their heads warm on cold days and it featured on many paintings at the time, but it has rarely been worn in modern times.

Benedict had already shown a taste for the garb of mediaeval popes, opting for delicate red slippers for daily wear rather than walking shoes favoured by his predecessor John Paul II.

Benedict, who changed into his more familiar white skull cap when he arrived at the podium, told a packed St. Peter's Square Christmas was a time to remember the true roots of the faith.

Looking out over the square with its 30-metre (100-foot) Christmas tree, the German pope said that Christmas lights adorning cities and houses around the world should "remind us of another light, invisible to the eyes but not to the heart".[/quote]

[quote]POPE: USES JOHN XXIII'S CAPE TO SHIELD FROM COLD
(AGI) - Vatican, Dec. 21 - Benedict XVI is using some of Pope John XXIII's favourite garments. In the Piazza di Spagna, on the day of the Immaculate Conception, he wore a red ermine lined shawl and today, he attended his general audience with a hooded cape in red velvet, also lined with ermine, to protect him from the cold.(AGI) -
211236 DIC 05[/quote]